sanitize.css

What is sanitize.css?

The sanitize.css package is a CSS library that provides consistent, cross-browser default styling for HTML elements. It's designed to normalize styles across different browsers, remove default margins, and apply a consistent box-sizing model. This helps in creating a more predictable styling baseline for web projects.

What are sanitize.css's main functionalities?

Normalize styles

This code ensures that every element on the page, including pseudo-elements, inherits the box-sizing property from the html element, which is set to border-box. This makes it easier to manage layouts as it includes padding and border in the element's total width and height.

html { box-sizing: border-box; } *, *::before, *::after { box-sizing: inherit; }

Remove default margins

This code removes the default margins from common elements like body, headings, paragraphs, and others. It provides a clean slate for adding custom spacing without having to override browser defaults.

body, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, p, figure, blockquote, dl, dd { margin: 0; }

Set default font-family

This sets the default font family to sans-serif for the entire HTML document, ensuring a consistent typography baseline across different browsers.

html { font-family: sans-serif; }

Other packages similar to sanitize.css

normalize.css

normalize.css is a popular CSS reset library that aims to normalize styles across browsers. It focuses on fixing common inconsistencies and preserving useful defaults rather than unifying all styles like sanitize.css. While both aim to provide a consistent styling baseline, normalize.css is more about correcting quirks without imposing a specific styling philosophy.

reset-css

reset-css is another CSS reset library that aims to strip away all default browser styling on elements. Unlike sanitize.css, which applies minimalistic default styles and normalizes differences, reset-css provides a clean slate by removing all styles, allowing developers to start styling from scratch.

README

sanitize.css

sanitize.css is a CSS library that provides consistent, cross-browser default styling of HTML elements alongside useful defaults.

How to get it

NPM

npm install --save sanitize.css

Browser

<link href="https://unpkg.com/sanitize.css" rel="stylesheet" />

Download

See https://csstools.github.io/sanitize.css/latest/sanitize.css

CDN

see https://cdnjs.com/libraries/10up-sanitize.css

Usage in npm and webpack

Import sanitize.css in CSS:

@import '~sanitize.css';

Alternatively, import sanitize.css in JS:

import 'sanitize.css';

In webpack.config.js, be sure to use the appropriate loaders:

module.exports = {
  module: {
    rules: [
      {
        test: /\.css$/,
        use: [ 'style-loader', 'css-loader' ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

What does it do?

• Normalizes styles for a wide range of elements.
• Corrects bugs and common browser inconsistencies.
• Provides common, useful defaults.
• Explains what code does using detailed comments.

Features

Box sizing defaults to border-box

*, ::before, ::after {
  box-sizing: border-box;
}

Backgrounds do not repeat by default

*, ::before, ::after {
  background-repeat: no-repeat;
}

Pseudo-elements inherit text decoration and vertical alignment

::before,
::after {
  text-decoration: inherit;
  vertical-align: inherit;
}

Cursors only change to hint non-obvious interfaces

html {
  cursor: default;
}

Tabs appear the same on the web as in a typical editor

html {
  tab-size: 4;
}

Words break to prevent overflow

html {
  word-break: break-all;
}

Documents do not use a margin for outer padding

body {
  margin: 0;
}

Navigation lists do not include a marker style

nav ol, nav ul {
  list-style: none;
}

Media elements align to the text center of other content

audio, canvas, iframe, img, svg, video {
  vertical-align: middle;
}

SVGs fallback to the current text color

svg:not([fill]) {
  fill: currentColor;
}

Tables do not include additional border spacing

table {
  border-collapse: collapse;
}

Form controls are easily style-able

button, input, select, textarea {
  font-family: inherit;
  font-size: inherit;
  line-height: inherit;
}

Textareas only resize vertically by default

textarea {
  resize: vertical;
}

Single taps are dispatched immediately on clickable elements

a, area, button, input, label, select, summary, textarea, [tabindex] {
  -ms-touch-action: manipulation;
  touch-action: manipulation;
}

ARIA roles include visual cursor hints

[aria-busy="true"] {
  cursor: progress;
}

[aria-controls] {
  cursor: pointer;
}

[aria-disabled="true"], [disabled] {
  cursor: default;
}

Visually hidden content remains accessible

[aria-hidden="false"][hidden]:not(:focus) {
  clip: rect(0, 0, 0, 0);
  display: inherit;
  position: absolute;
}

Typography

sanitize.css includes a separate stylesheet for normalizing typography using system interface fonts.

Browser

<link href="https://unpkg.com/sanitize.css/typography.css" rel="stylesheet" />

Download

See https://csstools.github.io/sanitize.css/latest/typography.css

CDN

see https://cdnjs.com/libraries/10up-sanitize.css/typography.css

Typography Features

The default font is the system ui font

html {
  font-family:
    system-ui,
    /* macOS 10.11-10.12 */ -apple-system,
    /* Windows 6+ */ Segoe UI,
    /* Android 4+ */ Roboto,
    /* Ubuntu 10.10+ */ Ubuntu,
    /* Gnome 3+ */ Cantarell,
    /* KDE Plasma 5+ */ Noto Sans,
    /* fallback */ sans-serif,
    /* macOS emoji */ "Apple Color Emoji",
    /* Windows emoji */ "Segoe UI Emoji",
    /* Windows emoji */ "Segoe UI Symbol",
    /* Linux emoji */ "Noto Color Emoji";
}

Pre-formatted and code-formatted text uses the monospace system ui font

code, kbd, pre, samp {
  font-family:
    /* macOS 10.10+ */ Menlo,
    /* Windows 6+ */ Consolas,
    /* Android 4+ */ Roboto Mono,
    /* Ubuntu 10.10+ */ Ubuntu Monospace,
    /* KDE Plasma 5+ */ Noto Mono,
    /* KDE Plasma 4+ */ Oxygen Mono,
    /* Linux/OpenOffice fallback */ Liberation Mono,
    /* fallback */ monospace;
}

Differences

normalize.css and sanitize.css correct browser bugs while carefully testing and documenting changes. normalize.css styles adhere to css specifications. sanitize.css styles adhere to common developer expectations and preferences. reset.css unstyles all elements. Both sanitize.css and normalize.css are maintained in sync.

Browser support

• Chrome (last 3)
• Edge (last 3)
• Firefox (last 3)
• Firefox ESR
• Opera (last 3)
• Safari (last 3)
• iOS Safari (last 2)
• Internet Explorer 9+

Contributing

Please read the contribution guidelines in order to make the contribution process easy and effective for everyone involved.

Acknowledgements

sanitize.css is a project by Jonathan Neal, built upon normalize.css, a project by Jonathan Neal, co-created with Nicolas Gallagher.